MEDUSA
Earth-8101
Real Name: Medusalith Amaquelin
Identity/Class: Alternate Earth (Earth-8101) sub-species of the simian race (Insimians) mutate
Occupation: Queen of the Insimians, adventurer
Group Membership: Insimians (Black Bolt/Blackagar Boltagon, Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Gorgon/Gorgon Petragon, Karnak, Triton)
Affiliations: None
Enemies: None
Known Relatives: Blackagar Boltagon (Black Bolt, wife), Crystalia Amaquelin (Crystal, sister), Gorgon Petragon (paternal cousin), Karnak (maternal cousin), Triton (maternal cousin)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: presumably Attilan
First Appearance: Marvel Apes I#3/4 (December, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: Medusa possesses prehensile, super-strong hair which she can control with great precision, using it to strike, bind, lift objects, and defend herself. Her Insimian physiology also grants her enhanced durability and physical conditioning.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'7")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 150 lbs.)
Eyes: Black
Hair: Red
History:
(Marvel Apes I#3/4 (fb) - BTS) - Medusa is the queen of the Insimians and a leading member of the Insimian Royal Family. As both ruler and warrior, she serves as Black Bolt's most trusted ally, balancing political authority with fierce devotion to Attilan and its people.
(Marvel Apes I#3/4) - Medusa and the Insimian Royal Family leaped towards adventure.
Comments: Created by either Karl Kesel or Tom Peyer.
The Insimians first appeared in Marvel Apes I#3/4 (December, 2008) as a one panel teaser for the sense shattering and never to be published pages of Amazing Ape-Ventures where the most sensational swinger of them all, the Black Widorangutan would be featured alongside the Insimians. A fun nod to their original book Amazing Adventures from the 1970's where they shared a series for eight issues.
The Marvel Apes limited series (2008) was conceived as a playful companion to the earlier Marvel Zombies phenomenon. Following the unexpected commercial success of Zombies, Marvel looked to replicate the formula by reimagining its superheroes in another offbeat, high-concept alternate reality. Writer Karl Kesel, inspired by Silver Age whimsy and the classic "What If?" tradition, pitched a world where Marvel's heroes and villains were evolved primates rather than humans. The project was greenlit as a four-issue miniseries, launching with a tongue-in-cheek promotional campaign that leaned into its absurdity while still delivering a surprisingly dark, satirical storyline. The series spawned several tie-ins and one-shots, positioning the Ape-Verse as both a parody of and homage to Marvel's multiverse storytelling.
Earth-8101 is the main Marvel Apes reality, but there are three others as well:
- Earth-81218, possible future of Earth-8101 set in the year 2099.
- Earth-90543, monkey Speedball was send back to his world and branded a traitor by the Ape-Vengers. This was a bad dream of the Gibbon.
- Earth-95019, diverged from Earth-8101 when zombies invaded their world. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #5 indicates that the timelines designated Earth-95019 and Earth-21050 were seemingly erased when Earth-616's Gorilla Girl went back to the moment the portal was opened and destroyed it.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Medusa has no known connections to
Images: (without ads)
Marvel Apes I#3, p33, pan2 (main image)
Appearances:
Marvel Apes I#3/4 (December, 2008) - Karl Keser or Tom Peyer (presumed writer), Mike McKone (pencils), Andy Lanning, Cam Smith (inkers)
First Posted: 1/13/2026
Last Updated: 1/13/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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